


like seasons always do

by Fives (janfives90)



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: F/F, set in high school but kinda an au, the timeline doesn't fit canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26129395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janfives90/pseuds/Fives
Summary: Alyssa Greene sprints down the hallway, mumbling under her breath.School has barely started, and she’s already behind.She’s thinking about her work and the little time she has to do it in when she rounds the corner and slams directly into another student heading in the opposite direction, sending them both sprawling painfully to the floor.
Relationships: Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Comments: 6
Kudos: 101





	like seasons always do

_ Autumn _

Alyssa Greene sprints down the hallway, mumbling under her breath.

School has barely started, and she’s already behind.

She’s thinking about her work and the little time she has to do it in when she rounds the corner and slams directly into another student heading in the opposite direction, sending them both sprawling painfully to the floor.

“I-I’m sorry,” the other student stammers, clearly nervous, as she rushes to pick up her books.

“Emma?”

Emma Nolan winces and doesn’t make eye contact. “H-Hi, Alyssa.”

“Are you okay?”

“Mhm.”

“Wow, Nolan, can’t you watch where you’re going?” Nick jeers as he passes them, letting his gym bag smack Emma in the back of the head on his way by. “The rest of us have places to be.”

“It wasn’t her fault,” Alyssa tries, but he’s already out of earshot.

Emma bows her head and mumbles something, then pushes herself to her feet and runs off.

* * *

She sees Emma at the end of the day, in their chemistry class, and Emma still won’t look at her, hunched over her work with her head down.

She manages to catch her before she leaves, grabbing Emma’s arm before she can bolt out the door.

Emma  _ flinches, _ and Alyssa lets her go, alarmed.

“I said I was sorry,” Emma says, her voice strained. “What more do you want?”

“I… I was just going to give this back to you. You dropped it earlier.” Alyssa holds out a dark green guitar pick.

Emma just blinks at her, baffled.

“Uhm. I guess you missed it when you were picking your books up.”

“Right. Uh, thanks.” Emma relaxes, just a little. “Why would you…” She shakes her head and takes the guitar pick back from Alyssa. “Thanks.”

“Why would I… what?”

“Well, I just. I didn’t think you’d bother to hold onto it, let alone give it back.”

Alyssa’s brow furrows. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Emma gives a nervous laugh. “Alyssa, come on.”

A locker slams shut outside the classroom, and Emma tenses back up again.

Alyssa’s heart sinks. “Emma, I’m not like them. I won’t be like them.”

“I know that you know what happened this summer. Everybody does.” Emma shrugs. “Pretty sure the whole town heard the yelling, so…”

“Yeah, I know.” Alyssa’s voice lowers. “But it doesn’t mean I need to be a dick about it.”

The genuine surprise on Emma’s face catches Alyssa off-guard, even though, if she’s being honest with herself, she knows that it shouldn’t.

“Look, I-”

Alyssa is cut off when Shelby appears in the doorway. “Hey, Kaylee and I have been looking for you, we need to get to practi…” Shelby trails off, narrowing her eyes at Emma. “Nolan, what are you doing?”

“Nothing,” Emma says quickly.

“I just dropped one of my notebooks, and Emma was giving it back to me,” Alyssa says. “I’ll be there in a minute, Shel.”

Shelby gives Emma a long, suspicious look. “...Okay. If you aren’t there in fifteen, I’ll come back.”

Alyssa gives an exasperated sigh as Shelby leaves, and she runs a hand through her hair. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Emma says softly. “Happens all the time. Nobody trusts me anymore.”

“You’re a lesbian, Emma, it’s not like you just got out of prison for murder.”

Emma laughs and bows her head. “You and I both know that around here, they might as well be the same.” She puts the guitar pick in her pocket and tightens her grip on her books. “You should go before your friends get worried.”

Alyssa doesn’t have time to think of what to say before Emma squeezes past her and out of the room.

* * *

For reasons Alyssa can’t quite place, she notices Emma more now.

In the hallways, she tries to make eye contact, tries to give Emma a friendly face amongst the bullshit their peers direct at her. In their classes, she walks past Emma whenever she goes to sharpen her pencil, trying not to laugh when she sees the other girl doodling music chords instead of class notes in her notebook.

When football season arrives and she notices Emma lingering next to the stands in the red polo of the band, she wanders over to her as nonchalantly as possible.

“Hey.”

Emma raises an eyebrow. “Hi.”

“What are you doing here?”

Emma blinks and glances down at her shirt.

Alyssa winces. “I-I meant, like, because the band’s up in the stands warming up, but you’re… here. Not. There.”

“Oh. I’m not like,  _ in _ the band, I just put everything away. I play guitar, which doesn’t exactly fit with what’s going on there.”

“What, you mean you couldn’t learn something else, too?” Alyssa teases.

Emma blushes. “Uhm, I could, but I didn’t really-”

“I’m joking, Em.” Alyssa tilts her head to the side. “Y’know, I think you look better in the flannels. Don’t get me wrong, though, the polo isn’t bad. You could pull off a lot of things.”

She’s pretty sure that the smile she gets from Emma is the first she’s seen on her since they got to high school.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Emma says.

Alyssa glances over her shoulder at the other cheerleaders, starting to get organized for the start of the game. “I have to go. Enjoy the game, Emma.”

“I won’t, but thanks for trying.”

Alyssa laughs as she heads back to her squad.

When she notices Emma during the game, watching  _ her _ the whole time instead of anything happening on the field, she’s confused by the twisty, flippy feeling in her gut that has nothing to do with cheerleading.

* * *

_ Winter _

Emma pets her grandmother’s fox terrier on the top of the head, then winds up and throws a snowball, sending it sailing across the yard.

And, of course, right at Alyssa Greene.

_ “Shit.” _ Emma cups her gloved hands around her mouth and yells, “Duck!”

If anyone ever said she was good at planning, they were wrong, because the shout makes Alyssa turn  _ towards _ the snowball and get smacked directly in the face.

“Oh, crap.” Emma runs forward as quickly as her boots and the snow will allow, to Alyssa, sitting on the ground with a bouncy fox terrier in her lap. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you.”

“I didn’t know I was that easy for you to miss,” Alyssa says with a grin.

“I-I… Well…” Emma stammers, until she realizes that Alyssa is doing the kind of teasing that doesn’t involve getting body-checked into a locker. “Hey, it’s not my fault that you interrupted my dog time.”

“I see that.” Alyssa scratches the terrier behind the ears. “What’s this pal’s name?”

“Her name’s Ted.”

Alyssa kisses the dog’s snoot. “Nice to meet you, Ted, but can I get out of the snow now?”

“Right, yeah, sorry.” Emma pulls Ted back by her collar before taking Alyssa’s hand and helping her to her feet. “You must be cold.”

“A bit.” Alyssa shivers and rubs her neck. “The snowball went down my shirt.”

“I’m-”

“Don’t apologize again, Emma. It’s not a big deal.”

Emma runs a hand through her hair, feeling awkward. “Uhm. Could I at least offer a hot chocolate so you can warm up a bit? Or, er… tea? I don’t really know what you drink.”

Alyssa smiles. “I’d happily take some hot chocolate.”

“Okay.” Emma stands where she is for a stupidly long moment, then shakes her head and leads Alyssa inside the house.

* * *

“What were you doing out here anyway? We’re nowhere near where you live.”

“Just taking a walk.” Alyssa shrugs. “Sometimes when I want to clear my head, I take walks out in this area. It’s quieter.”

Emma grins and hands Alyssa a mug of hot chocolate across the table. “Yeah, quieter until some jackass hits you with a snowball.”

“Very true. You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Emma chokes on her drink, slamming the mug down on the table as she tries to keep herself from spitting out chocolate.

“Are you okay?” Alyssa jumps to her feet and goes to Emma’s side, uselessly patting her on the back, looking worried.

“Yeah,” Emma rasps. “Sorry. It, uh, was hot. Th-The drink.”

Alyssa laughs and gently rubs her back. “It’s  _ hot _ chocolate, Nolan, I thought you were smarter than that.”

Emma bites her lip, face heating as Alyssa touches her. “Mhm.”

“Man, I’m too cold, you’re too hot, we’re quite the mess today.” Alyssa mercifully moves her hand and goes back to her seat. “Have you done your pre-calc homework yet?”

“Ugh, no.” Emma hesitates before trying, “Don’t you know gays aren’t good at math?”

Alyssa pauses, and Emma almost kicks herself. But then Alyssa laughs loudly. “I call bullshit on that. You always get A’s in math.”

“It’s an illusion.”

“Sure it is.” Alyssa drums her fingers against the side of her mug. “I mean, if you want, if you have the textbook, we could always do the problems at the same time. Then if either of us has any confusion, we can try to talk it through.”

Emma blinks at her. “You want to do our homework together?”

“It’s a stupid idea, I just thought-”

“It’s not stupid,” Emma murmurs. “I just didn’t think you’d want… I mean, you’ve already been alone with me for like fifteen minutes, and I wasn’t sure if you’d…”

“You’re not going to bite me, and I’m pretty sure I can’t catch gay.” Alyssa’s eyes soften, and she reaches across the table to set her hand on top of Emma’s. “Hey,” she murmurs. “I don’t have a problem hanging out with you, okay? If it’s a bad time…”

“It’s not,” Emma says quickly. “I just wanted to make sure you really wanted to.”

“Sure. I have to get the dumb homework done, too, don’t I?”

“I’ll get some paper and my textbook. If you’re comfy, we can just work here.”

“Fine by me.”

* * *

When the front door opens, both girls look up sharply.

“Emma, could you help me with the-” Betsy Nolan, holding grocery bags, stops when she sees Alyssa, the door still open behind her. “Oh. Hello.”

Emma just stammers, “U-Uhh.”

“Eloquent,” Alyssa says, a laugh in her voice. She gets out of her chair and holds a hand out to Betsy. “Hi, ma’am. I’m Alyssa Greene.”

“Betsy Nolan, Emma’s grandmother. Are you a friend of Emma’s?”

“Gran,” Emma mumbles.

“Yeah,” Alyssa says at the same time. “Can I help you with your bags?”

“No, dear, that’s okay.” Betsy squints at Emma. “My granddaughter can do it.”

Emma scrambles to her feet, blushing. “Right. Yep. Yes. Sorry.”

Alyssa sits back down, quietly giggling as Emma grabs a few bags and sets them on the kitchen counter.

“What are you kids up to?” Betsy asks as she begins putting things away.

“Math homework,” Alyssa says.

“I, uh, invited her in after I hit her with a snowball.”

_ “Emma Nolan.” _

“It was an accident!” Emma protests.

“It wasn’t a big deal, Mrs. Nolan, I promise.” Alyssa glances at her phone and winces. “Damn. I only have like fifteen more minutes before I need to go. My mom will be expecting me home soon.” She stares down at her papers like she’s suddenly realizing that she doesn’t have a way to carry them home safely.

“We only have one problem left. Let’s just get it done, then I can bring that in to school with me tomorrow so you don’t have to risk it getting wet.”

Alyssa lets out a soft sigh. “Thanks, Emma.”

Emma grins. “Not a problem.”

* * *

After Alyssa leaves a few minutes later, Betsy says, “She seems nice.”

“Yeah,” Emma murmurs distractedly, staring blankly at the door.

“Cute?”

“Mhm.” Emma blinks. “What?” She blushes.  _ “Gran.” _

Betsy laughs loudly and pats her on the shoulder. “It’s okay, honey. You’ll survive. Probably.”

Emma groans and puts her head down on the table. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

* * *

They meet in the girl’s bathroom before first block.

“Here.” Emma hands the sheets over to Alyssa. “Nice and dry and ready to be handed in.”

“Thank you.” Alyssa tucks the assignment into a folder. “We should do that again sometime.”

Emma freezes. “We… should?”

“Yeah, if you want to. It was nice.”

“Okay. I mean. Yeah, absolutely. I mean. Yeah, if you want.”

Alyssa bites her lip, looking like she’s trying not to laugh, and Emma just barely resists to urge to follow the motion with her gaze. “Good. Give me your phone.”

Emma unlocks her cellphone and hands it over without question.

When she gets it back, Alyssa’s number is in as a contact.

“Oh-kay,” Emma says, her voice hoarse.

“Are you alright? You look a little pale.”

Emma nods quickly and shoves her phone back into her pocket. “Yep. Yep, I’m fine.”

The first bell rings, saving her from whatever Alyssa was going to say next.

“We should go.” Emma clears her throat. “Uh, I’ll text you later so you have my number, too.”

Alyssa grins. “Good. I’ll talk to you later, Emma.”

“Talk to you later, Alyssa.”

* * *

_ Spring _

Alyssa starts to head home from debate when she gets a text message on her phone.

**E:** Are you still in the school?

**Alyssa:** Yeah, why?

**E:** Can you come to the band room?

Her brow furrowed, Alyssa walks down the hallway to the band room and opens the door, stepping inside slowly.

“Hello? Is anybody in here?”

She frowns and goes back to her phone as she wanders past one of the many storage areas.

**Alyssa:** What do I do when I get there?

Her heart almost jumps out of her chest when there’s a loud slam against the door she’s closest to.

A door that has a chair jammed under the handle and a few more stacked in front.

“Oh, Jesus,” Alyssa whispers. She moves the chairs and opens the door, and Emma almost falls onto her, coughing. “Em.” On instinct more than anything else, she wraps her arms around Emma and brushes her fingers through her hair. “Emma, what the hell happened?” she asks, staring into the small, pitch-black closet cluttered with music stands.

“I can make a ‘putting me back into the closet’ joke if you want,” Emma mutters.

“I don’t.” Alyssa pulls out of the hug so that she can cup Emma’s face in her hands, and she sees a forming bruise on her cheek. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. While I was putting equipment away, one of the seniors in the band started picking on a freshman. I got a bit mouthy telling him to shut up. It was my own fault.”

“That shouldn’t earn you a few hours in a dark closet,” Alyssa says, gently brushing her thumb across the bruise. “Or this.”

“It doesn’t matter. If everybody’s going to give me shit anyway, I might as well ask for it to redirect it away from other people.”

Alyssa gives a soft laugh. “You amaze me sometimes.”

Emma goes a bit pink and clears her throat. “Trust me, I’m not that great.”

“I trust you, but I’m not sure I believe you on that.” Alyssa lowers her hands. “We should get out of here.”

“Definitely.” Emma rubs the back of her neck. “Uh, thanks, Alyssa.”

“Not a problem. You can always text me if you’re in trouble.”

“I will. And you know you can do the same, right?”

Alyssa nods. “I do. I will.”

Emma smiles. “Good.”

* * *

She goes to Emma’s house to do her social studies homework, and she pets Ted as she walks to the stairs up to Emma’s room.

“What play did you get for the English project?” she asks as she plops onto Emma’s bed, social studies textbook in hand.

“Romeo and Juliet. You?”

“Macbeth.”

Emma, sitting with her back against the headboard, makes a face. “Wanna trade?”

Alyssa laughs and rolls onto her stomach. “What’s the matter, Em, not into starcrossed lovers?”

“Starcrossed lovers is just fine, but Romeo and Juliet is just a tragedy of two teenagers who barely know what love is and die because their families are stupid.” Emma looks down and plays with an invisible thread on her comforter. “I think I prefer when starcrossed lovers have a happy ending.”

Alyssa just watches her for a long moment.

Emma fidgets. “What?”

“Nothing,” Alyssa murmurs. “You’re just…” She shakes her head. “I dunno. I like listening to you talk.”

Emma blushes, and Alyssa smiles.

“Yeah, well… Shut up, Greene,” Emma mumbles, rubbing the back of her neck.

Alyssa laughs and rolls over again, propping her textbook up on her stomach. “Right, we have to get back to our homework.”

* * *

An hour later, she’s only read one paragraph of the assigned chapter.

Alyssa puts the book down and tilts her head back to look upside-down at Emma. “Hey… Em?”

Emma sets her own book aside. “Yeah?”

“What made you know you’re gay?”

Emma’s brow furrows. “What?”

“We’ve just… never really talked about it, and I never wanted you to think that it was the only thing you could  _ ever _ talk about, so I never asked. I just. I was always curious.”

Emma takes in a slow breath. “Well. When I was like… eleven? I went to a sleepover at Kaylee’s, and one of them had found some magazine, and they were all talking about weddings and imaginary men they’d want to marry and I just. I didn’t get it. At first I thought that I just didn’t want to get married, but then I realized that most of the time I  _ did _ think about it, but usually  _ I _ was in a suit and the imaginary fiance was a woman.”

Alyssa says nothing.

Emma sighs softly. “Somedays I wish I wasn’t. It’d almost be easier.”

Alyssa sits up and pushes herself back until she’s leaning against the headboard next to Emma. “It wouldn’t, Emma. This is  _ you. _ Fuck what all those other people think.”

“Can I tell you something?”

“Of course.”

Emma rests her head on Alyssa’s shoulder. “It’s easier with you here.”

Alyssa swallows hard. “It should be. I want it to be.” She closes her eyes and sets her head against Emma’s.

And quietly, in the very back of her mind, a voice whispers,  _ “Oh.” _

* * *

_ Summer _

Emma waits by the steps as Alyssa walks towards the house, wearing a backpack.

“Did you bring extra clothes like I asked?”

Alyssa raises an eyebrow. “Yes, but I still think this is weird.”

“If you trust me, put your bag down.”

Very slowly, Alyssa does as she’s told.

“Think fast!” Emma throws a water gun across the yard, and, the moment Alyssa catches it, she brings a second one out from behind her back and shoots.

Alyssa looks bewildered for half a second, then pushes her hair out of her eyes and pumps the water gun. “Oh, you’re in dangerous territory, Nolan.”

“I know, but it was so tempting.” Emma runs towards the backyard, laughing when she hears Alyssa take off after her.

* * *

They lie down in the grass, soaking wet and breathless.

“You’re an idiot,” Alyssa says, playfully pushing Emma’s head to the side.

“I figured as much.”

“Though, I guess I should thank you for being considerate enough to have me bring a change of clothes.” Alyssa sits up and pulls her t-shirt off, leaning back on her hands in just her sports bra.

Emma goes pale and turns her head again. “Lys,” she mumbles. “Uhm.”

Alyssa looks down and blushes. “Sorry.” She pulls her shirt back on. “I’m so used to doing that after cheer to cool down that I didn’t even think about it.”

“I, uh. I guess I’m glad that at least you’re still not uncomfortable around me.”

“Of course I’m not uncomfortable around you. Why would I be?”

“No reason,” Emma says quickly. She stands and reaches down to help Alyssa to her feet. “Come on, lets go inside and dry off.”

“Sure.” Alyssa laughs. “Though, the sun’s so bad that I think I might already be dry.”

* * *

Emma paces in her room while Alyssa changes in the bathroom.

“Emma? Are you okay?” Alyssa asks when she walks back in, shutting the door partially over behind her.

“Yes. No.”

“...Maybe?” Alyssa prompts.

“What? No. I just.” Emma pushes her glasses up briefly to rub her eyes. “Dammit, I’m fucking this up.” She takes in a deep breath. “I need to tell you something.”

“Okay.” Alyssa watches her patiently, and Emma realizes that the ball came back to her way too quickly.

“Uhm. Right.” She bites her lip and swallows. “The thing is, I… I should’ve told you ages ago, because you have the right to know, and maybe you’d be uncomfortable, but I was so desperate to make sure that you stayed around that I didn’t want to risk it, and I-”

“Whoa, whoa, Emma, slow down. Slow down. What’s happening right now?”

“I have a crush on you,” Emma says in a rush.

Alyssa closes her mouth.

“More than that, I guess. Feelings. I don’t know. I’ve had them for so long that they’re pretty much just a part of me. I never told you because I didn’t want you to hate me, and I thought it would just go away but it never did, and it just got worse, but now you’re so comfortable around me that you’d just take your shirt off, and I-I don’t want you to find out later and think that I let you do it so that I could… could  _ look at you _ or something, and I-”

Alyssa crosses the room, cups Emma’s face in her hands, and kisses her.

And suddenly, Emma’s mind is blissfully blank.

The kiss ends as quickly as it started, but Alyssa keeps her fingers on Emma’s jaw when she pulls back.

“What…” Emma whispers. “What just happened?”

Alyssa gives a soft laugh. “What do you think happened?”

“You… You kissed me, but… Why would…”

“I never knew what it meant, when I looked at you and felt…  _ everything. _ But it just kept happening, and then you explained how you figured yourself out, and I…” Alyssa rests her forehead against Emma’s. “I’m like you, Emma. I  _ like _ you, Emma.”

“O-Oh. So the anxiety speech wasn’t really necessary, huh?”

“I mean, it made me realize that I could kiss you without you thinking that I was being weird.”

“I definitely would not have thought that.”

“Good to know. Can I kiss you again?”

“God. Please do.”

Alyssa tugs Emma to her and kisses her, deeper this time, still a little clumsy but perfect anyway.

They only stop when they hear the front door open downstairs, Betsy’s voice drifting upstairs.  _ “Girls! Can you come set the table? I’m going to make burgers for lunch.” _

“Be down in a minute, Gran!” Emma calls back, going red when her voice squeaks a bit. She looks back at Alyssa. “This is really happening, right?”

“It really is.”

Emma grins, a little breathless, and kisses Alyssa again quickly. “Can we talk after lunch?”

Alyssa squeezes her hand, grinning right back. “I was really hoping that we would.”

* * *

_ Autumn _

Alyssa runs to her second block, looking down to make sure she has the right textbooks. She looks up just in time so see Emma running in the opposite direction, but not in time to avoid a collision.

Sprawled on the floor, Alyssa laughs at the look on Emma’s face. “Is this going to be a yearly occurrence now, Nolan?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing, Greene.” Emma gathers Alyssa’s books first and passes them over to her, then collects her own.

“Don’t forget this this time,” Alyssa says, holding a green guitar pick out to her.

Emma reaches out and sets her hand on top of Alyssa’s letting the touch linger as their eyes meet. “Keep it,” she says softly.

They stare at each other, Alyssa’s hand burning where Emma is touching her.

When the first bell rings, Emma stands, using the contact to pull Alyssa to her feet.

“Have a good day, Alyssa.”

“You too, Emma.”

Emma lowers her voice further. “I’ll see you later?”

Alyssa grins. “Yeah. You will.”

Emma grins back at her, and she reaches down to pick up her own books as Alyssa continues on her way to class.


End file.
